Still emotional over the Remparts’ ouster from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League post-season, head coach and general manager Patrick Roy says he is undecided about his future with the team.
Roy made the comments at the team’s end of season press conference at the Videotron Centre on Wednesday morning. Standing next to team president Jacques Tanguay, the Hall of Fame goaltender said he will take another week to make up his mind.
Roy said he is still upset that his team is not playing for a spot in the Memorial Cup. The Canadian Hockey League championship will be in Saint John, N.B., starting on June 20.
The Remparts won the Jean-Rougeau Trophy as the QMJHL’s top regular-season team and were favourites to win the playoffs and book a spot in Saint John.
But the Shawinigan Cataractes, who gave the Remparts all they could handle all season long, defeated Quebec 3-2 in a best-of-five semifinal to advance to a final series with the Charlottetown Islanders.
A week later, Roy said he plays the Cataractes’ 5-3 Game 5 victory in head before falling asleep.
“We were leading 3-1 when (Rempart forward Mikael) Huchette received a good slashing, but the referees did not see it,” Roy said. “We did not get the power play where we could’ve gone up 4-1 but instead we continued to play 5-on-5, and the Cats scored late in second period to make it 3-2.
“The referees need to do their jobs calling penalties instead of managing the game.”
After praising his players for showing leadership in a season filled with pauses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Roy told reporters that he was the most emotional he has ever been in hockey following the semifinal loss.
“Even when I retired from the (NHL), I was not as emotional as I still am today,” he said.
Roy was given Tanguay’s blessing to take time to think about his next step. But the four-time Stanley Cup winner said no NHL has team reached out to him.
“I can tell you right away no NHL teams have approached me and I’m not thinking of even searching for a job,” he said.
With the Boston Bruins firing of Bruce Cassidy, there are six NHL head coaching positions available. Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, Vegas, and Winnipeg are also looking.
Roy won the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL coach of the year in 2014, his first season with the Colorado Avalanche, after coaching the previous eight seasons with the Remparts. Roy left the Avalanche after three seasons, citing philosophical differences with Joe Sakic, the team’s general manager and Roy’s former teammate.
He returned to the Remparts for the 2019-19 QMJHL season. He won the Maurice-Filion Trophy as QMJHL general manager of the year this season.
“When I came back, Jacques and I had a talk about what could happen in the upcoming years,” Roy said. “I could come back and do the same duties as GM and head coach, or just come back as general manager.”
Roy said his future will definitely lie in hockey.
“If I stop coaching or be a part of management, you can bet that you will either see me on television or be on radio, commenting on the game, because I just love the game.”